Surrey Of Foveaux Strait Oyster Beds

Press, Volume C, Issue 29554, 1 July 1961, Page 15

Surrey Of Foveaux Strait Oyster Beds

Will it ever be possible to grow Foveaux Strait oysters in commercial beds? That is a question which may be answered as a result of a special survey of the Foveaux Strait beds by the Marine Department, says a statement by the department. The statement says the beds in New Zealand’s southern waters are unique in their situation in an exposed tidal strait, but the oysters may be more adaptable than was once believed. In the sheltered estuaries of Port Adventure and Lords river, on the east coast of Stewart Island, are considerable sprinklings of oysters which are mainly attached to rocks. Thev are the same species ns the strait oysters. “It seems these oysters have adapted themselves to the tidal conditions of the estuaries and have developed distinctive characteristics,” says Mr D. H. Stead, the Marine Department biologist in charge of the survey.

"On the whole, these Stewart Island oysters are

i smaller but deeper in reia--1 tion to their size. Thev have I a smoother, more closelyI fitting shell than their .Foveaux cousins, and contain good, full-sized oysters. They are excellent eating. They taste sweeter than the strait oysters and are not so salty.” Growth Rate Oysters from the main beds have been placed in wire cages about Port Adventure. Their spawning and growth rate will be closely studied. This experiment could have tremendous possibilities. On the other hand, it could be shown that the oysters’ location in the open sea beds of the strait is the reason for their extent and productivity. Dr. R. K. Dell, senior scientific officer of the Dominion Museum, says it is significant that, while oysters are found in estuaries and coastal waters all round the New Zealand coast, so far as is known it is only in Foveaux Strait that they are established in anything like commercial quantities.